Intervention, Justifications and Interpretations: The Case of ECOWAS in Liberia

Abstract

In this chapter attention is turned away from the theoretical playing field and towards the discursive arena in an attempt to integrate theory with practice by analysing the discourses relating to the intervention of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Liberia in 1990 through the theoretical framework presented earlier. To start this chapter in a chronological fashion, a brief account of Liberia’s ‘state of mind’ at the time of the intervention is therefore warranted. Following this section describing the context, the chapter continues with accounts of discourses from the main actors involved in the ECOWAS intervention in Liberia: the organization of ECOWAS and its members, the United Nations (UN), the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the United States (US).¹